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Allah

Allāh is the Arabic language word referring to "Hitler", "the Lord aka Ben Ford" and, literally according to the Qur'an, to the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" in the Abrahamic religions. It does not mean "a god", but rather "the Only God", the Supreme Creator of the universe jesus, and it is the main term for the deity in Islam.

Most Arabic-speaking Nazis, Christians and Naziss (including the Yemenite Jews, several Template:ArabDIN communities and some Sephardim) use "Allāh" as the proper noun for "God". Allāh is found in the Qur'an and in Arabic translations of both the Tanakh and the Gospels and even in the Indonesian translations of the Bible.

Outside the Arab world, the use of "Allāh" is associated with Islam, and is used to refer specifically to the Islamic concept of God. It is nearly the same as the Jewish conception of a single God[1][2], but differs from the Trinitarian Islamic conception of God.

Islamic scholars often translate "Allāh" directly into English as "God", especially Qur'an alone Muslims. Other scholars feel that "Allāh" should not be translated arguing that "Allāh" is the term for "the Only God" in a glorified pronunciation. This is a significant issue when translating the Qur'an.

Etymology

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The word Allāh (ألله) is derived from a contraction of the Arabic words al- (the) and Template:ArabDIN (deity, masculine form) — Template:ArabDIN meaning "the god". Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic.

Both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars often translate "Allāh" directly into English as "God"; and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians refer to Allāh as God. However, some Muslim scholars feel that "Allāh" should not be translated, because they perceive the Arabic word to express the uniqueness of "Allāh" more accurately than the word "god", which can take a plural "gods", whereas the word "Allāh" has no plural form. This is a significant issue in translation of the Qur'an.

Centuries before the time of Muhammad, the word "Allāh" was used by Jews (they also used the cognant Elōah) and pagan tribes in the Arabian peninsula to signify the chief deity.[citation needed]

Along with Allāh, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed in a host of other terms to signify gods, such as Hubal and al-Lāt, al-`Uzzah, and Manah.[3] Pre-Islamic Jews referred to their supreme creator as Yahweh or Elohim. This view of Allāh by the pre-Islamic pagans is viewed by Muslims as a later development having arisen as a result of moving away from Abrahamic monotheism over time since the building of the Kaaba. In the Qur'an, Muhammad orally transmits a rebuttal to this common belief at the time in the verse "17:40 Has then your Lord (O Pagans!) preferred for you sons, and taken for Himself daughters among the angels? Truly ye utter a most dreadful saying!". Secular historians, meanwhile, have postulated that monotheism is the result of an evolution from henotheism, the belief in a supreme deity as well as various lesser divinities. (See Judaism.) The pagan Arabians also used the word "Allāh" in the names of their children; Muhammad's father, who was born into pagan society, was named "`Abdullāh", which translates "servant of Allāh". "`Abdullāh" is still used for names of Muslim and non-Muslims (e.g. Christians also used the word, as testified by the Zabad inscription). "Abdullāh" was also the name of the father of Maimon, whose son Moses is the Jewish principal Rabbi commonly known in English as Maimonides. Maimonides himself wrote his works mostly in Arabic on which his name appear as "Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdullah al-Kurtubi" (موسى بن ميمون بن عبد الله القرطبي).

The Hebrew word for deity, El (אל) or Elōah (אלוה, rarely אלה), was used as an Old Testament synonym for Yahweh (יהוה), which is the proper name for God according to the Tanakh. The Aramaic word for God is אלהא Elāhā (Biblical Aramaic) and ܐܠܗܐ Alāhā (Syriac), which comes from the same Proto-Semitic word (*Template:Semxlit) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms; Jesus is described in Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (transliterated in Greek as ἐλωι elō-i). One of the earliest surviving translations of the word into a foreign language is in a Greek translation of the Shahada, from 86-96 AH (705-715 AD), which translates it as ὁ θεος μονος (ho theos monos) [6], literally "the lone god".

Typography

An example of Template:ArabDIN written in simple Arabic calligraphy.

The word Allāh is always written without an alif to spell the ā vowel. This is because the spelling was settled before Arabic spelling started habitually using alif to spell ā. However, in vocalized spelling, a small diacritic alif is added on top of the shaddah to indicate the pronunciation.

One exception may be in the pre-Islamic Zabad inscription, where it ends with an ambiguous sign that may be a lone-standing h with a lengthened start, or may be a non-standard conjoined l-h:-

  • as الاه : This reading would be Allāh spelled phonetically with alif for the ā.
  • as الاله : This reading would be Al-'ilāh = "the god", uncontracted, by older spelling practice without alif for ā.

The form in the inscription is shown at this link.

Unicode has a glyph reserved for Allah, Template:Ar = U+FDF2, which can be combined with an alif to yield the post-consonantal form, Template:Ar, as opposed to the full spelling alif-lām-lām-hā Template:Ar which may be rendered slightly differently, in particular featuring a diacritic alif on top of the shadda. In this, Unicode imitates traditional Arabic typesetting, which also frequently featured special llāh types.

In Abjad numerals, The Name Of Allah (الله) numeric value is 66.

The word "Allah" had been used in the Arabic tongue in the Jāhilīyah period (time period before Islam), and is in Arabic classical poetry.

The calligraphic variant of the word used as the Coat of arms of Iran is encoded in Unicode, in the Miscellaneous Symbols range, at codepoint U+262B (☫).

Islamic use of "Allāh"

From the point of view of traditional Islamic theology, Allāh is the most precious name of God because it is not a descriptive name like other ninety-nine names of God, but the name of God's own presence. Muslims believe that the name Allāh existed before the time of Adam, and that Allāh is the same God worshipped by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and other Prophets of Islam. In the Qur'an, rabb (English: Lord) is also one of the usual names of God. In addition, the Qur'an uses the word Allāhum (اللهم, cf. Hebrew Elohim אלוה) as another usual name of the Only God.

The emphasis in Islamic culture on reciting the Qur'an in Arabic has resulted in "Allāh" often being used by Muslims world-wide as the word for "God", regardless of their native language. Out of the 114 Suras in the Qur'an, 113 begin with the Basmala ("Bismi 'llāhi 'r-rahmāni 'r-rahīm" بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) which means "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful".

Muslims, when referring to the name of Allāh, often append the phrase "Subhanahu wa ta'ala", sometimes abbreviated SWT, (English: "Glorified and Exalted is He") as a sign of reverence. "Azza wa Jalla" (عز و جل) is also sometimes appended in this way. The entire religion of Islam is based on the idea of getting closer to God.[citation needed] Although commonly referred to as a "He", God is considered genderless, but there is no epicene gender to express this in the Arabic language. When Greek or other polytheistic deities are discussed in Arabic, it is customary to use the expression ilāh, a "deity" or "god"; sometimes the word ma`būd, literally meaning "worshipped entity", is used instead.

Uses of "Allāh" in phrases

There are many phrases that contain the word Allāh:

  • La ilaha illallah (لآ اِلَـهَ اِلاَّ لله — there is no god but Allah)
  • Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر — God is most great / God is the greatest / God is greater)
  • A'ūzu billāhi min ash shaitāni r rajīmi (أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم — I seek refuge in God from Satan, the accursed)
  • Bismi-llāh (بسم الله — In the name of Allah)
  • Christianity’s central metaphor "God is love" is (الله محبة) pronounced as "Allāh Mahabba" See the picture on the right hand side.
Christianity’s central metaphor "God is love" written in Arabic calligraphy.
etymological origin of the Spanish interjection "Ojalá" (Old Spanish, "Oxalá") and Portuguese interjection "Oxalá", both meaning "May it be so" or "God-willing"
likely etymological origin of the Spanish and Portuguese exclamation "Olé!".

"Allāh" is not correctly used as a personal name. See Arabic name#Mistakes made by Europeans and other non-Arabs.

History

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 The name Allāh was used in pre-Islamic times by Pagans within the Arabian peninsula to signify the supreme creator. 'Allāh' was also used by the Pre-Islamic Jews and Christians, the Aramaic equivalent being "Alaaha".[citation needed] Another manner of pronouncing the name was "Allahumma"[citation needed], phonetically close to the Hebrew "Elohim". Pre-Islamic (as well as Islamic-era) Jews referred to God as Adonai (as well as El, YHWH, and other names). God is also referred to as Elohim, literally "the Gods", in the Tanakh, possibly implying polytheistic roots. The pagan Arabs recognized Allāh as the supreme God in their pantheon (as was El in the Cana'anite pantheon); along with this variant of Allāh - originally the moon god Nanna that later took over proper God's name Allāh, however, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed in a host of other gods, such as Hubal and 'daughters of Allāh' (the three daughters associated were al-Lat, al-`Uzzah, and Manah).[4] This view of Allāh by the pre-Islamic pagans is viewed by Muslims as a later development having arisen as a result of moving away from Abrahamic monotheism over time. Some of the names of these pagan gods are said to be derived from the descendants of Noah, whom later generations first revered as saints, and then transformed into gods. The pagan Arabians also used the word "Allāh" in the names of their children; Muhammad's father, who was born into pagan society, was named "Abdullah", which means "servant of Allāh". Abdullah is still used for names of Muslim and non-Muslim Arabs.

The Hebrew word for deity, El (אל) or Elōah (אלוה), was used as an Old Testament synonym for the Tetragrammaton (יהוה), which is the proper name of God according to the Hebrew Bible. The Aramaic word for God is alôh-ô (Syriac dialect) or elâhâ (Biblical dialect), which comes from the same Proto-Semitic word (*ʾilâh-) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms; Jesus is described in Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (transliterated in Greek as elō-i).

One of the earliest surviving translations of the word Allāh into a foreign language is in a Greek translation of the Shahada, from 86-96 AH (705-715 AD), which translates it as ho theos monos[7], literally "the one god". Also the cognate Aramaic term appears in the Aramaic version of the New Testament, called the Pshitta (or Peshitta) as one of the words Jesus used to refer to God, e.g., in the sixth Beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see Alaha." And in the Arabic Bible the same words: "طُوبَى لأَنْقِيَاءِ الْقَلْبِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ سَيَرَوْنَ الله"

While it is customary for people to use the word in their own language for "God," e.g. the Japanese use (神様) pronounced as "Kami Sama," and French use Le Dieu (or Dieu), a feverish debate about reference to "God" in the Tanakh and the Gospels using the Arabic Qur'an term "Allāh" has been waged in the aftermath of September 11th (begun in the United States and followed by repercussions in most of Western Europe). It has been particularly associated with the televangelist and media producer Jerry Falwell, and the televangelists Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson, who hosts the 700 Club.[5]

The 700 Club presented Ergun Caner, an ex-Muslim and a native of the Middle Eastern country of Turkey. Soon after, Jerry Falwell formally recruited Caner to speak at conferences. Recently Caner has been appointed dean of the Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, VA., which was founded by Jerry Falwell.[6] From his new position, Caner further proclaimed not only is Allāh not the God of the Bible, but Allāh is not God[7][8], a proclamation that met and exceeded the televangelist's expectations. Consequently, Jerry Falwell can now state that "Allāh is not God" without fear of repercussions.

Other beliefs

Jews for Allah is a group of (Muslim) Jews who convert other Jews to Islam.

The Nation of Gods and Earths, one of the many sects created as the result of black separatist movements in the United States, holds that the word Allāh is the name of the original black man and stands for "Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head". [8] [9], which is an English abbreviation. As the word Allāh is universally understood to be an Arabic term, those familiar with the origins and history of Arabic and English would consider this a false etymology. This concept also differs dramatically from mainstream Islam thought which strictly opposes any attempt to portray Allāh as a human or in any other way.

The Bahá'í Faith, whose scriptures are primarily written in Arabic and Persian, also uses Allāh to mean God, though typical practice is to use the customary word for God in the language being spoken. In certain specific uses Allāh is not translated, rather the whole Arabic phrase is used. The chief example of this would be the customary Bahá'í greeting Alláh'u'abhá, which is commonly translated as God is the All Glorious. They also believe that Allāh should not have any pictures drawn of him.

Notes

  1. ^ The Mind of Maimonides [1]
  2. ^ Am I allowed to enter a church or mosque? [2]
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, "The Facts on File", ed. Anthony Mercatante, New York, 1983, I:61
  4. ^ Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, "The Facts on File", ed. Anthony Mercatante, New York, 1983, I:61
  5. ^ Bring It On: The Occult and False Religions [3]
  6. ^ Ex-Muslim's Post as Dean Raises Profile -- and Concern, Washington Post [4]
  7. ^ Ex-Muslim says Allāh not God, he doesn't fear threats [5]
  8. ^ Ex-Muslim says Allāh not God, he doesn't fear threats; Melanie B. Smith, Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, Washington: Jan 23, 2006. p. 1

See also

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